Author: Kalantarian Kevo

EU OBSERVER: NAGORNO-KARABAKH: ON THE KNIFE’S EDGE

The Euobserver.com magazine published an article about the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue and the situation in the region. Amanda Paul
and Roxana Cristescu are the authors of the article. The article
especially says:

A mere two weeks ago the name Ramil Safarov was meaningless to
most people.

Today he is the cause of a diplomatic storm between Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Hungary which has sucked in the US, Russia and the EU
and deepened regional hostility and bitterness in the South Caucasus.

Safarov, an Azerbaijani soldier, was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment for murdering an Armenian soldier, Gurgen Margaryan,
during a Nato Partnership for Peace training program in Budapest
in 2004.

Hungary’s decision to extradite Safarov to Azerbaijan, where he was
immediately pardoned, has unleashed a widespread tirade of condemnation
on both Baku and Budapest.

Hungary says that the extradition was approved in accordance with the
terms of the 1983 European Convention of the Transfer of Sentenced
Persons, to which Azerbaijan is party. It also claims Azerbaijan
pledged to keep Safarov incarcerated for the remainder of his sentence.

Article 12 of the convention states: “Each party may grant pardon,
amnesty or commutation of the sentence in accordance with its
constitution or other laws.”

Azerbaijan declared it was entitled to pardon him under Item 22 of
article 109 of the Azerbaijani constitution, meaning that while it
may have been a highly provocative decision, it was in accordance
with all international norms and rules, something which Hungary must
have been aware of.

This decision had an immediate negative effect on the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process and inter-ethnic relations with the Armenians.

While Armenia has now cut diplomatic ties with Hungary, Azerbaijan
feels bitter about the way the international community has treated
the case.

An open statement co-signed by various representatives of Azerbaijan’s
ruling and opposition parties considers last week’s European Parliament
resolution regarding the Safarov case as unconstructive and a clear
reflection of the institution’s policy of double standards.

Celebrated by the majority of Azerbaijanis and condemned vehemently
by Armenia, the Safarov event exposes again the significant level of
smouldering acrimony that has grown, boiling in the pressure cooker
of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and in a closed and
elite-driven peace process.

The loud local public reaction to this case came as no surprise
for close observers of this process and should not be treated by
international diplomacy as an episodic incident to be dismissed with
quick and short-sighted measures.

Very sadly, this turn of events will almost certainly set back
efforts to find a solution to the conflict and efforts to build up
trust between the peoples of the region.

Political debates and statements have fired up emotions which
were displayed in the public domain in a myriad of ways. During
the past weeks, regular citizens on both sides – not just radicals
and ultra-nationalists – have poured into local, international and
social media an impressive compilation of poisonous insults, hollow
statements and calls for violent action, all of which are rooted in
a dangerously racist attitude towards each other. The few moderate
and analytical articles were met with threatening tones.

This alone is sufficient to show that the ‘frozen’ polarisation and
isolation on all sides has done nothing during the past 20 years
but sharpen perceptions of the enemy and further alienate people
regardless of their age, education or political orientation.

At this critical level of political cleavage, trying to stimulate and
build change from within the societies affected by conflict appears
to be most badly needed yet impossible endeavour.

In the current setting of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the
possibilities of promoting peace from the outside are limited.

International pressure and mediation have predictably and repeatedly
hit a dead end.

The official peace process has maintained a self-centered approach and
insisted for too long on a confidential and secretive structure for
the talks, ignoring the need to work with the public, to include all
the relevant actors and stimulate significant changes at the level
of local people caught up in the conflict.

The radical reactions to the Safarov case are a reflection of public
feeling which is not prepared for dialogue, let alone any compromise.

For several years now different local and international
non-governmental organizations have tried to bridge the divide where
direct cross-conflict activities were impossible to carry out. Despite
the politically stagnant environment around the official negotiation
process, efforts have continued to build trust between Armenians
and Azerbaijanis, in particular among young people – a constituency
which desires and deserves a brighter future beyond the bloody past
it has inherited.

Some of these projects were supported by the EU in line with its
declared commitment to provide support to civil society for a
peaceful resolution of the conflict. For those people who have
been painstakingly trying to improve dialogue across the divide,
the aftershocks of the Safarov event will not only challenge the
tentative results obtained so far but will also put on shaky ground
all civil society initiatives in the future.

Local NGOs and respected insiders who work at multiple levels in
society will now struggle to find their feet. The limited space they
had to promote conflict transformation, propose alternative conflict
resolution activities and broaden the options in the dominant discourse
on the official peace process risks shrinking significantly in the
wake of the Safarov case.

They will need all the support they can get from the EU and from
other organizations.

Playing the blame game is not going to help this process and will
do nothing in the long run but push the two sides into their own
corners and make any sort of interaction and dialogue difficult if
not impossible.

No one will be worse off than the people of the South Caucasus if
the region, steeped in hatred and constantly teetering on the edge of
armed escalation, is relegated to hopeless status by a disappointed
international business and diplomatic community.

ILHAM ALLIYEV WAS SUGGESTED TO PUT SAFAROV’S MONUMENT IN ALL THE MILITARY UNITS IN AZERBAIJAN

13:15 | 2012-09-18 | Region | Politics |

Azerbaijani media reports that Badri Ustuner, Turkish citizen, retired
colonel, has sent a letter of gratitude to Azerbaijani president,
Ilham Alliyev, concerning Safarov’s pardon.

In the letter the colonel stated that he would have done the same if
he was in Aliyev’s place.

As reported, Ustuner also offered Aliyev to put Safarov’s monument in
all the military units in Azerbaijan, so that it will be an example
for every Azerbaijani soldier.

AZERBAIJAN SHOWED ITS DESPOTIC IMAGE BY AWARDING THE CRIMINAL WITH HERO TITLE: SERJ TANKIAN

ARMENPRESS
18 September, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: The recent controversy over
Hungary’s transfer of a convicted killer and his subsequent pardon
and hero’s welcome in Azerbaijan have really worked to reinforce
the international image of Azerbaijan as a nation with a despotic
leadership that promotes nonsensical violence. System of a Down group
member famous musician Serj Tankian came forth with a statement,
Armenpress reports.

“Their only true ally besides Turkey is oil” Tankian notes. In the
words of our compatriot, Armenia doesn’t have an ally in oil. Nor does
it need such ecologically destructive, carbon-based allies. What
Armenia needs is a carbon neutral, ecologically sustainable,
agriculturally diverse future as its ally.

True progress and a solution to Armenia’s economic, environmental,
and social challenges will be based on a coordinated effort to support
environmentally sustainable agriculture.

This would allow the country to produce all necessary food items,
both for domestic consumption and for export. This is strategically
important given Armenia’s landlocked status and geopolitical isolation
caused by hostile neighboring countries.

ZHIRAYR REYISYAN: SITUATION IN ALEPPO ARMENIAN DISTRICTS IS COMPARATIVELY QUIET

ARMENPRESS
18 September, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: As Armenpress was reported by the
Press Secretary of the National Primacy of Aleppo Zhirayr Reyisyan,
in Aleppo’s Armenian districts the situation is comparatively quiet
at the moment. The Syrian army established its positions in the
Armenian districts.

According to Reyisyan, in the result of the recent collisions many
residential buildings and different institutions were considerably
damaged, but, fortunately, human losses are less. Among the wounded
there are Armenians as well, whose health condition is stable.

“Notwithstanding the fact that in the area of the New Village the
situation is comparatively calm, but the village has not yet returned
to its common life and the majority of the population, who were
evacuated from the region, has not yet come back to their homes. I
hope that the situation will improve and shortly people will return
to their apartments”, – said the Press Secretary Zhirayr Reyisyan.

We were informed by the Facebook page of the Aleppo Armenians that
in the districts of Sulaimani, Al-Azizia and Siyahi the traffic was
a bit regulated, people return to their ordinal life and some trade
centers reopen.

In Syria more than 20,000 people, including more than 10 Armenians,
died in the collisions between the opposition and government forces,
which have lasted about 18 months.

VARDAN AYVAZYAN INVENTS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 10:57:59 – 18/09/2012

Yesterday Vardan Ayvazyan, member of the Republican parliamentary
group, commented on the Writ of Execution of 37.5 million USD against
him in favor of Global Gold Mining, LLC, by the New York court.

Ayvazyan said during the press conference that some people are very
interested in this case, hinting at the editor-in-chief of Hetq online
Edik Baghdasaryan. He noted that Baghdasaryan’s son works for Global
Gold Mining.

Edik Baghdasaryan confirmed to Lragir.am that his son works for GGM
and makes ecological reports but said he was surprised at how his
son’s job can be related to the decision of the New York court. Edik
Baghdasaryan says there is no interest in the fact that Hetq Online
was the first to report the verdict since they have been investigating
mining in Armenia since 2000 when his son was only 12.

He noted that as minister of nature protection Vardan Ayvazyan was
involved in some corruption deals. Edik Baghdasaryan noted that they
had reported on Vardan Ayvazyan’s 14 mines registered under the name
of his relatives and friends. Besides, he noted that this is not the
first time Vardan Ayvazyan has a problems. He has problems with a lot
of people, for example, now he has problems with Silva Hambarzumyan.

The last deal was the selling of three mines to the Chinese. “When
we wrote about this deal, he denied yet did not appeal to court. I
don’t know why he is so excited now. But I can’t understand why the
New York Court made that decision because Ayvazyan didn’t participate
in the trial. I ask lawyers but they can’t understand either,” says
the editor-in-chief of Hetq Online.

According to him, Ayvazyan is inventing things.

Edik Baghdasaryan says that the job of a journalist is tough because
after every report some official may announce that they have some
interest in reporting about them. But, according to him, Ayvazyan
knows everything about him, and if there was something, he would have
announced about it a long time ago.

Edik Baghdasaryan says that they never write about Ayvazyan’s personal
life but this does not mean that they don’t know all the stories
about how he was beaten and his visits to casinos.

Edik Baghdasaryan says mining is full of problems which will be
revealed little by little and some of which will be related to Vardan
Ayvazyan.

GOOD KING’S PARABLE
Siranuysh Papyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:00:42 – 18/09/2012

Do you think Serzh Sargsyan’s reprimand to Prime Minister Sargsyan
and other members of government on mismanagement of budget funds,
kickback and so on are part of the presidential campaign or is there
a serious concern?

We have often heard such calls, there have been tougher assessments
on mismanagement, political and economic monopolies, impunity. This
is not a discovery or assessment which should shock me, our political
landscape and our public.

Every year the Control Chamber reports stealing and wasting of the
state budget, scary numbers and mismanagement. So what? No political
and criminal liability follows. No institution functions in Armenia,
or functions inefficiently. The whole chain is so transparent that
it takes no effort to analyze it.

So, there is a reason to consider this speech as presidential campaign,
the good king’s parable.

The need to restore constitutional order has been discussed since
2007 but there is no progress so far. How do you understand restoring
constitutional order?

I know for sure that someone is cheating. Either the constitution lies
to people, or the authorities lie to people because our Constitution
does not envisage vote buying for 10-20 thousand drams, election of
criminal oligarchs to parliament. We are an oriental clan country
where a small group of people become rich by means of kickbacks,
stealing, tenders while the exhausted people are waiting until the
president will display political will.

On the eve of our independence day we say the constitutional order
has been disrupted, and one of the signs is the remarks of the
president. Our country is facing a severe political crisis, and all
the civic movements that emerge fill in the gap of the state and
the political parties. The implementation of the requirements and
aspirations of the society is delegated to them. When the parliament
and the executive do not want or cannot solve problems and set
benchmarks, people take to the streets to solve their problems. The
political process is ahead of the political form.

Ruben Hairapetyan says all the civic initiatives are stooges of
one politician or another. Why is there such perception, refusal
to believe that there are honest citizens who boycott Harsnakar and
other business he runs?

There is a projective psychology to judge according to your kind.

Ruben Hairapetyan is not my target, he is the symbol of the authorities
and the political majority.

Recently I’ve been to Avan district in relation to the developments
of Harsnakar, and seeing the height and width of the walls around the
mansions of the political bourgeoisie and dark windows with cameras,
I became convinced that engineering has a caliphate approach – aloof,
estranged, protected, different. This is mentality, value, way of
life. This is their attitude to the society.

Hairapetyan separates Serzh Sargsyan of the three presidents. He says
impunity has been eliminated. Do you feel any change when you compare
those three presidents?

I never link impunity with a president though individuals have an
important role. However, if I link impunity with presidents, it will
mean that I deny the concept of division of powers, independence of
the judicial system. And since in the past 21 years of independence we
have not been able to ensure division of powers hence the mechanisms
of liability and responsibility are not functioning.

Manipulating Serzh Sargsyan’s name in this interview is not in
the favor of the president, though the interviewee thinks he used
additional resources to express his loyalty. But what is painful
and persistent, all the institutions and problems finally get to the
president’s office and everything depends on the political will and
favor of the president.

Agence France Presse
12 septembre 2012 mercredi 9:56 AM GMT

Combats près de l’aéroport d’Alep, des Arméniens abattus

ALEP (Syrie) 12 sept 2012

De violents combats entre armée syrienne et rebelles ont éclaté
mercredi aux abords de l’aéroport d’Alep, deuxième ville du pays où
des Arméniens de Syrie de retour d’Erevan ont été abattus par des
hommes armés.

Ces violences, qui ne donnent aucun signe de répit près de 18 mois
après le début de la révolte qui a dégénéré en conflit sanglant,
rendent encore plus difficile la mission du médiateur Lakhdar Brahimi,
qui doit se rendre dans les “prochains jours” à Damas où il
rencontrera le président Bachar al-Assad.

Mercredi, le régime pilonnait les bastions rebelles comme il le fait
quotidiennement, notamment à Alep, la métropole du nord où les combats
et les bombardements font rage depuis plus d’un mois et demi.

Ainsi, de violents affrontements ont éclaté à l’aube près de
l’aéroport d’Alep, qui fonctionne toujours normalement, et plusieurs
quartiers rebelles ont été bombardés par l’armée, selon l’Observatoire
syrien des droits de l’Homme (OSDH), qui se base sur un large réseau
de militants.

Dans cette ville multiconfessionnelle, quatre Syriens arméniens qui
étaient de retour d’Erevan ont été abattus par des hommes armés sur la
route de l’aéroport, ont affirmé à l’AFP leurs proches. Au moins 13
autres personnes du même groupe ont été blessés, selon la même source.

Ailleurs dans le pays, un petit garçon et une petite fille ont été
tués dans le bombardement d’une localité rebelle de Hama (centre), où
les bombardements de l’armée ont provoqué également des incendies dans
plusieurs immeubles ainsi que dans la principale boulangerie.

Les rebelles, qui avaient annoncé mardi avoir unifié leurs forces
militaires à Alep et dans sa région, ont par ailleurs attaqué
plusieurs barrages dans la région d’Idleb (nord-ouest). “Plusieurs
bataillons ont lancé des attaques à la roquette sur ces barrages”, a
indiqué à l’AFP Rami Abdel Rahmane, président de l’OSDH.

Mardi, les violences avaient fait 138 morts –93 civils, 19 rebelles
et 26 soldats à travers le pays, selon l’ONG.

ALI AHMADOV: “EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S RESOLUTION WON’T INFLUENCE ON REDUCTION OF TENSION BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA, BUT WILL INCREASE IT”

MilAz.info
Sept 14 2012
Azerbaijan

“Ramil Safarov’s pardoning is an expression of protest by Azerbaijani
people against protracted Armenian aggression”

“The European Parliament’s resolution adopted on Ramil Safarov’s
issue concerning Azerbaijan, to put it mildly, is non-objective”,
said the deputy chairman, executive secretary of New Azerbaijan Party
Ali Alhadov in the interview on the official website of NAP.

Ahmadov said that the pardoning of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov
by the decree issued by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev was
realized in accordance with relevant international conventions, as
well as it absolutely meets the requirement of the state legislation:
“The issue didn’t violate any norms of legislation, on the contrary
it was realized in accordance with all legislation norms”.

Ahmadov considers that in order to understand the essence of Ramil
Safarov’s issue you need to use a complex approach: “The resolution
adopted by the European Parliament doesn’t exactly posses this
complex approach. Ramil Safarov’s issues is a directly result of
the Armenian aggression towards Azerbaijan, the slaughter of more
than 10 thousands people. The criminals who killed Ramil Safarov’s
relatives didn’t undergo relevant punishment, Azerbaijani lands
are still under Armenian occupation and more than 1 mln people were
subjected to leave their own lands and became internally displaced
people. Unfortunately, the above mentioned facts must be taken into
consideration while speaking on Ramil Safarov’s issue. He was given
hypercritical punishment. This fact could never be excused. I consider
that mister president followed just these facts while signing the
pardoning decree. If Budapest wouldn’t give the way to injustice,
there wasn’t so much noise around the issue. I can say that, in
fact, Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan was the victim of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict like 10 thousands people. Ramil Safarov can be also
considered as another victim of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as he
served 9 years of his life in imprisonment. I’d like to underline one
thing that the government showed an adequate reaction to the public
humor on Ramil Safarov’s pardoning by the President of Azerbaijan. In
fact, Ramil Safarov’s pardoning and positive and emotional peoples’
reaction to this issue is the expression of protest by Azerbaijani
people against protracted Armenian aggression”.

Ali Ahmadov’s reaction towards the European parliament resolution was:
“Unfortunately, as the majority of European structures, as well as
European Parliament continue closing eyes on such events, the reason
of the tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia is that Armenia has been
keeping Azerbaijani lands under the occupation for more than 20 years.

I consider that the only reason of the number of tragedies that
occurred recently was the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The longer
international organizations, as well as European Parliament, don’t
understand the essence of the problem and don’t make necessary
steps towards the solution of the conflict solution, such tragedies
will continue. I also don’t accept the unilateral and non-objective
resolutions adopted by the European Parliament. Unfortunately, European
Parliament’s resolution won’t influence on reduce of escalation
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but will serve for it increase”.

AZERBAIJANI POLITICAL PARTIES AGREED ON AN APPEAL TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

MilAz.info
Sept 14 2012
Azerbaijan

Political parties operating in Azerbaijan agreed on an appeal to
address the European Parliament.

APA reports that Political parties operating in Azerbaijan expressed
commitment to European values within the development of bilateral
relations between Azerbaijan and European structures. The appeal says
that European Parliament has adopted a number of different resolutions
concerning the South Caucasus, as well as Azerbaijan:

“The main problem – Armenian aggression towards Azerbaijan and the
objective ideas concerning Nagorno Karabakh conflict were reflected
in the above mentioned documents. But in some cases, the politician
group represented in the European Parliament adopted lots of documents
under the influence of Armenian lobby and disfigured the real facts
and met the interests especially of it. Such documents are not directly
accepted by the public opinion in Azerbaijan. The resolution addopted
at EU by serves the interest of the Armenian goovernment and Armenian
lobby.

The appeal was signed by NAP deputy chairman Ali Ahmadov, chairman
of Citizen and Develoment Party Ali Aliyev, chairman of Azerbaijani
Liberal Party Avaz Termikhan, general secretary of National Independent
Party Arzukhan Alizadeh, deputy chairman of Justice Party Mutallim
Rahymli, Chairman of Ana Vatan (Motherland) Party Fazael Aghamali,
chairman of Social Welfare Party Khanhuseyn Kazimli, chairman of
National Revival Movement Party Faraj Guliyev, chairman of Supreme
Majlis of Great Salvation Party Ajdar Aliyev, deputy chairperson
of Azerbaijani Democratic Party Hasrat Rustamov, deputy chairman
of Musavat Party Gulagha, WAPFP chairman Gudrat Hasanguliyev, APFP
deputy chairman Raza Nurullayev and the other persons are attending
in the event. Several parties are expeted to join this appeal.

The New Azerbaijani Party (YAP) with the participation of political
parties has started the discussion on the resolution of the European
Parliament about Ramil Safarov.

APA reports that YAP deputy chairman Ali Ahmedov, chairman of Citizen
and Develoment Party Ali Aliyev, chairman of Azerbaijani Liberal
Party Avaz Termikhan, general secretary of National Independent Party
Arzukhan Alizadeh, deputy chairman of Justice Party Mutallim Rahymli,
Chairman of Ana Vatan (Motherland) Party Fazael Aghamali, chairman
of Social Welfare Party Khanhuseyn Kazimli, chairman of National
Revival Movement Party Faraj Guliyev, chairman of Supreme Majlis of
Great Salvation Party Ajdar Aliyev, deputy chairperson of Azerbaijani
Democratic Party Hasrat Rustamov, deputy chairman of Musavat Party
Gulagha, WAPFP chairman Gudrat Hasanguliyev, APFP deputy chairman
Raza Nurullayev and the other persons are attending in the event.

TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN PROPOSES TO ANNOUNCE SEPTEMBER 15 AS OFFICIAL HOLIDAY

Trend
Sept 14 2012
Azerbaijan

Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic suggested that the date
of September 15 was observed in Azerbaijan as an official holiday

The proposal was made by the ambassador at a press conference on
Friday. He recalled that the Caucasian Islamic Army led by Nuri Pasha
and Azerbaijani corps entered Baku and liberated the country from
the Armenian-Bolshevik occupation on Sept. 15, 1918.

“Thus the independence of Azerbaijan was secured and an end was put
to the rule of the Bolsheviks and the Armenians in Baku and regions of
Azerbaijan. Liberation of Baku from the Armenian-Bolshevik occupation
is one of the glorious pages in the history of Azerbaijan in the
twentieth century” Kilic said.